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AP Photo/Carolyn KasterWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has set a collision course with the auto industry as it launches renegotiations of the 23-year-old NAFTA trade pact this week, aiming to shrink a growing trade deficit with Mexico and tighten the rules of origin for cars and parts.

Detroit is one of America’s most troubled cities, and its problems sometimes seem intractable. But a new effort to envision a future for Motor City could offer hope to other declining urban centers.
Detroit epitomizes shrinking Rust Belt cities. The once-vibrant hub of the U.S. auto industry has already lost more than 60 percent of its population and about 40 percent of its housing stock, leaving roughly 20 square miles vacant – almost as much as all of Manhattan.

Matthew DeBord/Business InsiderGlobal auto executives at the Detroit auto show are highlighting their investments in the United States, mindful of President-elect Donald Trump's attacks on automakers for building vehicles in Mexico.

North American auto OEMs and their tier 2 suppliers have been in a race to move auto production across borders to low-cost countries (LCCs) for the past couple of decades as soaring wages, pension and OPEB obligations made production in the U.S. all but impossible. Supporters of minimum wage hikes could learn from the efforts of the United Auto Workers Union which did a masterful job negotiating off-market wage and benefits packages which ultimately only served to provide their members with permanent job losses.

When you're planning a trip, one of the most important things to remember is factoring in the transportation cost. And that's especially true for space travel. Traveling to Mars is going to be expensive, so NASA is betting on the future development of a more efficient and less costly type of propulsion to get there.

LOS ANGELES — Curiosity hunkered down after the sun unleashed a blast that raced toward Mars.
While the hardy rover was designed to withstand punishing space weather, its handlers decided to power it down as a precaution since it suffered a recent computer problem.
“We’re being more careful,” project manager Richard Cook of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Wednesday.
While Curiosity slept, the Opportunity rover and two NASA spacecraft circling overhead carried on with normal activities.